You poor thing, that's miserable. For my hubby, his whole issue started with a bad sinus infection that went on for weeks. His eyes turned bright red so he went to urgent care, not pinkeye. They gave him drops and antibiotics, if I recall right. Then a few months later he called me from another emergency clinic and said he had suddenly lost his hearing at work. He went to an ENT and was 90% deaf in one ear, and 15% loss in the other one from Sudden Sensorineureal Hearing Loss. Massive high doses of steroids eventually helped him regain most of the hearing, but that was about two years ago and he still has partial deafness in the worst ear and constant tinnitus. He says it is worse at night when he's trying to sleep. Then...one day soon after that he came from work and I asked him what was wrong with his eye. He couldn't close one eye and his mouth was drooping. Back to urgent care and the ENT--Bell's Palsy. All apparently from the same bad sinus infection, they think. The infection or virus got into the cranial nerves of his face. That's what they said.
I have TMJ and I do get pain in my ear, like sharp pain once in a while. I have had swimmer's ear and lots of ringing at times, too. It drives you nuts. I get the whooshing and sometimes I swear it has to do with orthostatic hypotension. I intend to bring that question up at my next check-up. I have read that PsA/arthritis can affect the ear, too. Look into the TMJ and fibro connection. Maybe you have a virus? I sure hope you get some relief ASAP!!
If it is driving you as crazy as you say, it is worth a trip to the doctor.
I have known several people with permanent constant tinnitus. I hoe this is not going to be the case for you. But if it turns out to be, the only thing you can do is work very hard to learn not to let it bother you. That may sound impossible, but it isn't. It takes time and dedication but it can be done and getting used to it and not letting it bother you is far better than letting it drive you crazy every day. I know because even though I have not had that, I do have other chronic problems that are permanent, such as uncorrectable double vision and I have learned to adapt to them and not to let these things bother me.
best of luck!
I don't know if it is related to fibro or not; have not heard of it being one of the common symptoms.
I wish very much for you that you find the source of it and something that will make it go away!
My double vision is only frustrating when I allow it to be. Most of the time I automatically work around it and basically ignore it so it doesn't bother me.
How do you adapt to something that seems unbearable? You just do. There's no special technique or magic that you can do. You just concentrate on other things and don't pay attention to it at all. You don't go around thinking or saying "this is awful, I can't stand this" and so on. You ignore it. Remember than human beings are very adaptable, and hundreds of millions of people have survived in conditions that look unsurvivable. People can adapt to anything if they want to or if they have to. If there's no choice, that is just what you do. I have adapted to things that were driving me crazy.
First, I did everything I possibly could to find out if there were anything I could do to change the situation. Then if I found out it was not possible ever to change it, I adapted. You either do that, and stop letting it bother you, or you go around the whole rest of your life allowing something you have no control over to interfere with your life every day and make you miserable. I simply won't allow something to do that to me.
It's not about how strong you are. If you tell yourself that then you can tell yourself "i'm not strong enough" and go on letting it ruin your life. That's kind of a cop out. Not everyone who has adapted to severely bad conditions was someone who was strong. They just had no choice but to die or adapt, live a miserable life or adapt, so they adapted. You can get used to anything. I am not saying there's not a limit to this. A person can find themselves in a permanent situation that they'd rather die than be in, and so death can be an option. but short of that - adapt.
Eff, I suggest you see an ENT. I know it is difficult in covid/lockdown to find someone seeing new patients. I contacted my insurance provider to get suggestions for Internists and Rheumy accepting new patients and they pointed me in the right direction--turns out I really like the new internist I found! If this is causing so much discomfort it may be viral or infection and needs medical attention. Meantime, do a self check for fever, swollen glands, cyst or bump around the outer ear, sores in mouth etc.
Thinking of you